Time Spent Together
by thinking in blue
Summary: Her mother is a strong woman, Artemis knows that, and she could only hope her strength would be enough get her through tomorrow's tragedy.


Gotham City  
March 18th 10:30 EST

Artemis stood outside her mother's apartment, straightening out her dress as she waited for her to answer the door. She never liked skirts. Three years of ugly school uniforms hadn't done anything but increase her hatred of them, and she didn't like this particular dress at all. It was lavender, her least favorite color, and strapless, so she was constantly in fear that it would slip too low and expose far too much. She'd only worn the thing once, and only because Wally wanted to see her in it. It was a gift from her mother though, and she figured she'd want to see her in it, since she never had before.

"Artemis?" her mother questions after opening the door. She wasn't expecting anyone, as almost nobody ever came to her apartment.

"Hi Mom." She grins, and tries to be ladylike as she bends over to give her a hug, "it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too Artemis," her mother says, and returns her hug, "but shouldn't you be in school?"

"Well uh... my professors cancelled class, and I don't have all that much homework this weekend, so I decided to come to Gotham and spend the day with you."

She glares at her daughter, "And just how did you get from Palo Alto to Gotham City?"

"Zeta tube." She says matter-of-factily.

"Zeta tube?" She questions, "I thought you weren't allowed to use those since you retired."

"Well uh... they gave me an exception because today's your birthday."

She laughs, "Artemis you know my birthday's not for another two months."

"True, but who knows what might come up during those two months. I might not be able to see you on your actual birthday, so I decided we should celebrate now. Mom, today is your day, what do you want to do?"

She thinks for a moment, "Well, I suppose since you're here, I could really use some help dusting."

Artemis chuckles, "Mom, I came all this way to spend time with you, and the first thing you want me to do is help you dust?"

"This place is a pig sty Artemis. I've been meaning to clean it up for a while. I'm actually embarrassed you had to see it in this condition."

"Mom." She rolled her eyes, and headed for the kitchen to find a dusting rag.

OooO

The Gilded Lily is arguably the finest restaurant in all of Gotham City, and one of the few places outside of Rhelasia to have an authentic Rhelasian tea ceremony. Though her mother was Vietnamese and not Rhelasian, she enjoyed dining at the Gilded Lily, but couldn't do it very often. As most fine restaurants are, it was very expensive.

"Artemis, are you sure we should eat here?" Her mother says as she looks over the menu hanging outside the restaurant, paying special note to the high prices.

She laughs, "Well, it's your favorite restaurant, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's so expensive. Really Artemis, we can eat someplace else."

"I insist Mom, it's my treat."

"I can't let you do that." She says, and wheels herself away from the restaurant entrance and onto the sidewalk.

Artemis grabs the chair's handle before she can go too far, "But I want to Mom," she moves to the other side of the wheelchair, so she can look her mother in the eyes, "Today is your day, ok, and I want it to be special. I want you to remember this day as one of the happiest in your life."

"Well, if it means this much to you."

"It does. Now come on, let's get a table before the line gets out the door."

OooO

"You could have at least let me pay for the tip." Paula says, as Artemis pushes her out of the restaurant.

"Mom, it's fine. I really don't mind paying."

"But it must have been incredibly expensive."

"It was, but I really don't mind."

"Hmm..," she says suspiciously, "This is a change from the girl who wanted me to pay for everything just a few years ago."

She shrugs, "What can I say, I've done some growing up. Reorganized my priorities, decided what's important to me, and buying my mother expensive lunches is at the top of the list."

"That can't be very good for your wallet." She tries to sound stern, but smiles as she says it.

"Okay, maybe taking you to fancy restaurants isn't at the top of my list, but spending time with you is. I've been way too busy lately, and I feel terrible that I haven't seen you in so long."

"Artemis, it's understandable you can't see me that much, you live nearly 3000 miles away."

"But I should have made more time for you."

"Don't feel bad about being busy and not coming to see me. We have plenty of time to spend together in the future."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She looks away as she says it, feeling guilty.

"So, what are we doing next?" her mother asks after some time. Artemis had been pushing her mother aimlessly for 3 blocks.

"That's up to you to decide." She replies.

She thinks for a few moments, "Turn around, and go three blocks east."

"Where are we going?" Artemis asks.

"You'll see."

OooO

"The Gotham City Zoo?" Artemis questions. She wasn't really sure where her mother had in mind to go. She figured it would be a little antique store, or something like that, not the zoo. She didn't even think her mom liked animals. Wasn't she the one who wouldn't let her get a goldfish when she was younger (she really wanted a dog, but that was out of the question since they lived in an apartment)? She tries to remember her mother's reaction to the puppy she and Wally got a few months back.

"Do you not want to go the zoo?" She asks, concerned.

"No, no, the zoo's fine." She says quickly, "I just didn't think this would be the place you wanted to go."

She laughs, "Well, I always wanted to take the whole family here, back when you were little."

Maybe it was her dad that never let her get the goldfish. Her memory was a bit hazy. "Really? I don't remember ever going to the zoo at all when I was younger."

"Well that's because your father and I were always, uh..." She hesitates, trying to come up with the nicest way to put their past criminal activities, "busy, working. And you've never been to the zoo before? Didn't your school take you on a field trip?"

She thinks for a moment, "I know I went to the aquarium my junior year, and maybe I went in 6th or 7th grade. My elementary school definitely wasn't very big on field trips. I went to the San Francisco zoo with Wally once, but I don't think I've ever been to the one here in Gotham. I've heard good things about it though. Didn't they adopt a rhino not too long ago?"

"I believe they did, and I saw on the news not too long ago one of the Lion's had two cubs."

"Aww..." she coos, "they must've been adorable. Do you think we'll be able to see them?"

"I think so, but there's only one way to find out." She says slyly, and starts wheeling toward the entrance.

"Hey, wait for me." She jokes, and runs after her mother.

OooO

"Ok Artemis, I can understand paying for the expensive meal, but in addition to that, you've gotten me season tickets to the zoo, dolphin encounter passes, a necklace, a sweatshirt, and now you're insisting on buying me a frozen lemonade in a souvenir mug?"

"What? you said you were thirsty." She says, as though it were obvious, and hands the man with the pushcart a five dollar bill.

"Yes, but where is all this money coming from?" She asks.

"Uh.. my bank account."

She glares at her daughter, "You know what I mean."

"Well, I did just get a raise." She says, and hands her mother the cold cup.

"You told me all about your 20 cent pay raise." she says dryly.

"It adds up to four extra dollars a week." She says, then quickly adds, "and maybe selling my car helped a little too."

"You sold your car!" She exclaims.

"Yeah." She says plainly, as though selling her baby was no big deal. Her 1997 Toyota Camry might have been a piece of scrap metal, but that and the bow Ollie made her for her 18th birthday were her prized possessions. It was the first big purchase she made on her own, and it pained her to give it away. She didn't need to sell it for the mission's sake. In fact, Nightwing advised her not too because he was afraid it would "draw suspicion". It made Wally happy though, he'd been begging her to sell that 'hunk of junk' as he called it, since the day he found out he'd have to share the garage with it. And she needed the money too, in order to make today special.

"Why?" She asks.

"I found that I didn't really need it anymore. I live close enough to class and work that I can just walk, and if I need to go somewhere really far, I could ask Wally, or one of my other friends with a car to take me." She replies simply.

"But you loved that car."

"I did, but there are things more important than that car. Now stop talking, and drink your lemonade before it melts."

OooO

The sun was setting, and a zookeeper had just announced over the intercom that they would be closing in 15 minutes.

"We should probably head for the entrance." her Mother says.

"No, let's watch the sun set a little big longer." Artemis replies, not wanting to leave so soon.

"Alright." She says, "You know, I never thought that the sunset would look this beautiful over the polar bear exhibit."

Artemis laughs, "Me either."

There's a few moments silence before her mother speaks, "I had fun today, Artemis."

"Me too."

"We should do this again sometime."

She squats down, and puts her arms around her mother. "I promise you, someday, we will."

OooO

The living room they'd cleaned together at the beginning of the day was a mess once again. The glass coffee table had finger prints and grease stains all over, along with countless magazines, napkins, and an empty pizza box. The floor was covered with popcorn, and the rug had a new soda stain. The people inside paid no attention to the mess, they were too busy enjoying each other's company.

They decided to have a girl's night in. They ordered pizza, Artemis told stories about college, her mother told stories about her younger days, they did each other's hair and nails, and now they were watching a 'Friends' marathon on one of the local TV stations.

"And coming up on the 11 o'clock news," the news anchorman says during the commercial break, "The Earth-Mars Communication satellite prepares for it's launch tomorrow, but will interacting with Martians help or hurt our planet? Full details next."

"Mom, have you paid much attention to that satellite launch?" Artemis asks.

"No, not really, just what I hear about it on the news." She replies.

"That launch is supposed to be broadcast live on TV tomorrow, are you going to watch it?"

"I'm not sure, I suppose I might."

"Well, there's something very important that's going to happen at the launch tomorrow, and you need to know about it." She says in a deathly serious tone.

"What is it?" Her mother asks.

* * *

Palo Alto  
March 8th 21:24 PST

"Thanks for coming over." She said to Nightwing, not looking up from her mug of hot chocolate, absentmindedly stirring her beverage. Playing with her food when something was on her mind was a quirk she had.

"Not a problem." He said after taking a soda from the fridge and closing the door. He came over to her and Wally's house fairly often, especially recently to give her mission briefs. Their relationship was to the point where he could raid their fridge without asking first. "What is it you wanted to ask me about?"

"Just that, well, I know you said I can't tell anyone about the mission, but-"

"You told someone!" He shouted, shocked.

"NO! No, I haven't told anyone," She looked up at him, startled by his reaction, and angered that he'd jump to conclusions, "but I want to."

"Artemis," He said patiently, "You know how dangerous this mission is, and I don't want more people than necessary to know."

"I know," She said sternly, "but I wouldn't be asking you if it wasn't important, and I think it is necessary for this person to know. Maybe not all the details, but at least enough to know I'm alive."

"Alright, who is it you want to tell?" he asked, and took a sip of his soda.

"My mother."

He didn't say anything for a minute, and tried to act like he was mulling it over (though she could tell he wasn't) "I'm sorry Artemis, but I think it's too risky for anyone but the four of us to know. I'm sure your mom is a trustworthy person, but she does have some ties to known criminals."

Artemis scoffed, "She doesn't have any ties to known criminals." She got up from her bar stool, leaving her mug on the counter, "The Shadows dropped ties with her 11 years ago when they found out she was a cripple with a six year jail sentence. My father dropped ties with her five years ago after she finally, finally came to him with the divorce papers. He skipped out on her, of course, because he's too much of a coward to sign anything legal. My sister, well, even though she's in this weird good-bad limbo, she doesn't have any ties with my mother either. The last time she talked her was over the phone when she was 13, and only because I begged her to do it. Did you know it was me, not her, who told my Mom about Roy and Lian? Hmm.. Did you? because I bet you didn't. Did you also know that my Mom's entire family in Vietnam dropped ties with her 30 years ago when she ran off with my father to America? Her entire family Nightwing, that's her parents, four brothers, two sisters, and more aunts, uncles, and cousins than you can count. And the neighbors dropped ties with her too, 16 years ago when the police came banging on our door in the middle of the night. They probably still think she's some sort of criminal, just like seem to. The only people who call her besides me are bill collectors and telemarketers, and the only person who visits her besides me is the mailman. She's told me before that, my calls and visits are the only thing she has to look forward to, and that she's already lost one daughter, and she couldn't bear to lose another, and-and-." She was breathing heavy, one hand balled into a fist, the other pointing a finger sharply at Nightwing. She had him backed up into her living room wall with just a few inches between them. Artemis' eyes widened, only now realizing the extremeness of her reaction.

"I-I didn't realize." Nightwing said softly, hands held up low in surrender.

She lowered her extended arm, and backed up a few feet from him, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You care about your mom, that's all."

She sighed, "I don't even know why I asked you, I knew what the answer was going to be. I guess, I'm worried about what's going to her if she thinks I'm dead."

"We'll take good care of her." He said, trying to sound reassuring.

"But you're not going to let me tell her, are you?"

He shook his head, "I can't Artemis, I'm really sorry."

* * *

"Just that Ke$ha, that one singer you can't stand, is going to be performing at the launch, so I don't really think you should watch it."

She breathes a sigh of relief, "Oh that's all, you sounded so serious."

"But are you going to watch the launch?" She asks sternly.

"If Ke$ha's performing I probably won't."

"Good." She says, and the end credits start rolling on the TV.

She yawns, "I don't mean to be rude, but it's getting kind of late. I was thinking of going to bed soon."

"Oh, of course, I don't want to keep you up."

"It was good to see you Artemis."

"You too." She says, and bends down to give her mother a hug goodbye.

"Um... Artemis, you can let go now." she says, after the two have hugged for several minutes.

"Sorry." She says, and releases her mother from her embrace.

"Well, bye Artemis."

"Bye Mom. I love you." She says as she opens the door to leave.

"I love you too."

"I'm going to miss you so much."

"Don't worry, you'll see me again soon." she can hear her mother say as she pulls the door shut.

OooO

She gives her old building one last glance before walking away.

"If only that were true."

* * *

My first completed Young Justice fic. Yay! I've had this plot bunny about Artemis spending her 'last day' with her Mom hopping around in my head since Depths aired. After adding and changing a few things here and there, I turned it into a 3000+ word fic. Not bad, if I say so myself.

I always imagined Artemis being very close to her mom. They don't always get along on the show, but she could've easily ran away from home like Jade did. Instead she endured six year's of her father's training waiting for her to come home. If that doesn't show how much she cares for her, I don't know what does.

If you liked it, please review! If you didn't like it, review too! I'd love some feedback, be it concrit, praise, or flames.


End file.
